Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

I did not post a blog yesterday. Something more meaningful occurred in my life. My sixth grandchild, second grandson, came into this world at 5:19 P.M. When I woke up this morning I thought about the significance of my showing up for that event. I wondered if I could tie showing up to a devotional. The doctor was late showing up. Perhaps showing up had some meaning there.

Being who I am I searched the scripture for meaning. My search changed my thoughts. Expectations have to be flexible, things do not always go as expected. My grandson came earlier than expected. My daughter did not show signs of impending birth as the nurses expected. The doctor did not show up as expected.

So why am I using Genesis 4:26 to point to something meaningful? I have to say it is because I found something I did not expect. Adam knew God and walked with Him every morning until Eve gave Adam the fruit. Cain was the first born. Able the second born. They knew God and made sacrifices to the Lord. They were old enough to tend a flock and harvest crops, so I expect they knew the Lord for some time. Then Cain slew Able and death entered in. There was the first physical death recorded in the bible.

The generations of Cain were then recoded down to Lamech where the second death is recorded, not the event but the confession. It is then after the second death that we return our eyes upon Adam and Eve and the birth of Seth. Then and only then do we see men beginning to call on the name of the Lord.

Is it meaningful that no one called on the name of the Lord until after the second death?

Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

The first point I want to make here is that this is not God’s original design. God gave Adam and Eve everything to have the abundant life. He walked with them every morning. No sickness, no pains, no sorrows. Because Adam sinned consequences entered into their lives.

The legacy of Adam’s sin became generational. Sorrows abound not because we sin, but because Adam sinned. It is not our fault that we suffer, it is man’s legacy. There is much that goes into sorrows but those sorrows were not in God’s plan.

So why do we still suffer after we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? It is because salvation is not connected to suffering. Salvation is the reversal of the effects of sin. Sin is death, salvation is life. Sadly the cure for sin is not a cure for the consequences of sin. While we are freed from the penalty of sin, we are not freed, as yet, from its presence. So why cannot we be freed from suffering?

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Romans 8:36-37 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Our enemy is still walking about to seek whom he may destroy. It is not for our sakes that we have not yet been removed from suffering, but for the sake of our brothers and sisters who have yet to come to know and love Christ.

Romans 6:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Because it will be worth it.